Executive Coaches Grouphttps://executivecoachesgroup.com
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1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.2.3Are You Ready For Coaching?https://executivecoachesgroup.com/are-you-ready-for-coaching/
https://executivecoachesgroup.com/are-you-ready-for-coaching/#respondSat, 13 Aug 2016 16:09:59 +0000http://executivecoachesgroup.com/?p=479While coaching is gaining in popularity and acceptance as an effective means of development, it is relatively new and misunderstood, which leads potential clients to ask: Is coaching right for them? Coaching are client led conversations: the client drives the agenda, leads the discussion, creates and ultimately commits to a plan of action. The coach's role is to ask the right questions to stimulate the client's thought towards greater self-awareness.

While coaching is gaining in popularity and acceptance as an effective means of development, it is relatively new and misunderstood, which leads potential clients to ask: Is coaching right for them? Coaching are client led conversations: the client drives the agenda, leads the discussion, creates and ultimately commits to a plan of action. The coach’s role is to ask the right questions to stimulate the client’s thought towards greater self-awareness.

Rather than ask if this process is suitable for you, I offer another perspective: are you ready for coaching? Everyone can benefit from coaching but being in the right frame of mind will ensure that you will maximize your gain from the process. By the end of this article, you will be able to determine if you are prepared for the coaching process.

Three questions measure your readiness for coaching. The first is rhetorical: “Do you have an area of self-development?” Everyone has room for improvement, whether it is seeking growth in new skills, behaviours or mindsets or remedial in nature. The amount of knowledge, skills and capabilities are limitless and one’s ability to deepen their competence has no bounds. Seeking growth would be developing necessary and new skills after your first promotion to management. An example of remedial action would be improving or correcting behaviours that you already have as a manager of people. Recognizing that everyone has growth and improvement areas, including our own opportunities, is the first and biggest obstacle to overcome.

Do you want to heighten your self-awareness through coaching? At first glance, this second question may also seem rhetorical but it is not: recognition of blind spots, room for improvement or new areas of discovery does not equate to action. In fact, you may be afraid or unwilling to take action. In my experience, clients must address their fears to achieve desired goals. Recognizing, let alone overcoming, fear is not easy nor obvious to clients – the nature of fear is to avoid. Your receptivity to coaching through these fears will largely affect the change to your desired mindset.

Last but not least, are you motivated to proactively change your paradigm? This is an important phase because it is where positive transition and change occur. A coach and client can achieve a great deal of learning and client self-awareness through conversations, but the best coaching relationships also commit to action and establishing accountability for improvement. This is also the section where a coach can provide a lot of support. A coach helps clients identify and work through obstacles to change. The answer ultimately lies within the client, but an effective coach will use effective questions so that the client realizes and commits to true actions of growth.

If you are true to yourself and able to answer these three questions affirmatively, then you are ready for coaching and will be part of a growing group of successful clients who has benefitted from the coaching process. So let me end with a call to action – schedule a discovery session with a coach that you have chemistry with and ask whether you are ready for coaching.

]]>https://executivecoachesgroup.com/are-you-ready-for-coaching/feed/0Do You Have Leadership Courage? If Not, Learn Howhttps://executivecoachesgroup.com/leadership-courage/
Thu, 01 Oct 2015 16:11:29 +0000http://executivecoachesgroup.com/?p=454“You have plenty of courage, I am sure,” answered Oz. “All you need is confidence in yourself. There is no living thing that is not afraid when it faces danger. The true courage is in facing danger when you are afraid, and that kind of courage you have in plenty.” Frank Baum,The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

I remember early on in my career while working for a well-known, international company, I was flown down to the United States for a very important leadership conference. I had just recently been promoted from middle management to executive level and I was full of excitement about what I was going to learn and experience, while at the same time feeling a little intimidated.

That feeling of intimidation came to a crashing halt when I realized the first event of the conference was to watch the movie “The Wizard of Oz”. That was probably the most expensive movie watching I’ve ever participated in considering the room was full of executives who had been flown in from around the world. I still remember the words that were floating around in my head “Are you kidding me?!?” This is what it takes to be a senior leader?

Metaphors Can Be Useful

Naturally I was missing the point. The purpose of showing us this classic movie was not because the organizers thought it was a good movie, rather, they were setting the stage about how important having courage is, among many of the other important leadership lessons learned throughout the movie.

“You have plenty of courage, I am sure,” answered Oz. “All you need is confidence in yourself. There is no living thing that is not afraid when it faces danger. The true courage is in facing danger when you are afraid, and that kind of courage you have in plenty.” Frank Baum,The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Real Life Courage

Life requires courage. If we didn’t all have courage we wouldn’t be able to get out of bed in the morning and function in this world. Let’s face it, the world can be a scary place and one needs courage to be able to confront it. But there are different degrees of courage required.

When we hear the word courage, we often think of bravery and fortitude. The word courage actually comes from the French word coeur which means ‘heart’. Its origins referred to courage as our emotions and feelings – i.e. matters of the heart.

Leadership Courage

Today, a much more complex understanding of courage is required. To be an effective leader in a world that is constantly evolving, where the rules that applied yesterday no longer apply and our customers live in parts of the world we possibly have never yet travelled, it is vitally important that we have leadership courage.

Leadership courage is required when one:

Is being authentic

Artistically expresses themselves in a creative way

Makes a career change

Pursues their passions

Stands up for what is right

Acts with integrity rather than expedience

Makes a decision and takes a stand

Perseveres into the unknown

Is willing to have challenging conversations

Can Courage, Particularly Leadership Courage, be Learned?

As the lion learned in the movie, courage comes from within. He first had to overcome his fear, anxiety and lack of confidence to discover his own courage.

We all have courage. To what extent we demonstrate our courage is based upon our past experiences, our capability of tapping into our innate ability, and the environment we find ourselves in.

Coaching can assist a person in discovering their courage, and here’s how:

Encouragement – Providing signs of encouragement and support will help enable someone to push through their fears and strengthen this emotional muscle.

Experience – Assisting someone to see how their past experiences both professionally and personally have been acts of courage can help them lessen their anxiety and understand that they already have demonstrated this ability, and can do it again.

Culture – By building a culture that encourages employees to speak up, and supports leaders to make decisions, over time their confidence levels will build – and so too will the leader’s confidence in themselves and in others.

Now the question is, do you have the courage to be a leader?

Executive Coaches Group

The Executive Coaches Group can help your leaders learn coaching techniques that can generate the best work from your teams, identify individuals’ strengths and provide the support you need to ensure your workplace is conducive to courageous acts. And we can do this without showing the movie. Call us to learn more.

]]>Harper, Mulcair & Trudeau Competencieshttps://executivecoachesgroup.com/harper-mulcair-trudeau-competencies/
Tue, 15 Sep 2015 12:55:35 +0000http://executivecoachesgroup.com/?p=441Recently, the Executive Coaches Group team has been helping a large municipal government define key leadership competencies for their leaders. This work got us thinking about the current federal election. Whether you prefer Stephen Harper, Thomas Mulcair or Justin Trudeau likely depends in part on which leadership competencies you value most in a Prime Minister.

Recently, the Executive Coaches Group team has been helping a large municipal government define key leadership competencies for their leaders. This work got us thinking about the current federal election.

Whether you prefer Stephen Harper, Thomas Mulcair or Justin Trudeau likely depends in part on which leadership competencies you value most in a Prime Minister. If you value job expertise most, there’s a good chance you prefer Mr. Harper. If you place a priority on pragmatism, you might like Mr. Mulcair for his moving the NDP towards the centre politically. If you value collaboration in your politicians, you might like Mr. Trudeau’s pledge of using a consultative approach.

Business Leadership Competencies

Just as the leadership competencies you value in politicians can be influenced by your priorities, your business priorities affect the leadership competencies you will value in your team. If you are in a fast-moving marketplace, you might place a priority on vision and innovation. In a fast changing climate, you might value agility. If you lead a public company, transparency and accountability might be competencies you value.

To strengthen your team (or your own competencies), you must take stock of current abilities and clearly identify your priorities. This allows you to perform a gap analysis and put in place mentorship, coaching or training programs to address skill areas that need enhancing. Just remember that while you might place a premium on particular competencies, there are a number of core competencies that can benefit almost any team. After all, whether you are for the Conservatives, the New Democrats, the Liberals, the Greens or even another party — chances are you want your elected officials to demonstrate expertise AND pragmatism AND collaboration — not to mention results, transparency, accountability and other competencies.

Executive Coaches Group

The Executive Coaches Group can help you refine your priorities, inventory your team’s competencies and develop a variety of leadership programs to address areas that need strengthening. So, put us to work for you. We promise to leave the political discussions here.

]]>Four Successful People with Executive Coacheshttps://executivecoachesgroup.com/four-successful-people-with-executive-coaches/
Sun, 09 Aug 2015 09:52:43 +0000http://executivecoachesgroup.com/?p=345Executive Coaching: The 1200-Year Old Profession There’s a famous Zen koan that asks “Why can’t the person of great strength lift his leg?”. In ancient China, about 1200 years ago: emperors, governors, business and military leaders would often visit and work with Zen masters. The interesting thing, is, that these people were all very accomplished [...]

There’s a famous Zen koan that asks “Why can’t the person of great strength lift his leg?”.

In ancient China, about 1200 years ago: emperors, governors, business and military leaders would often visit and work with Zen masters. The interesting thing, is, that these people were all very accomplished and successful in their own right, yet they sought out masters who specialized in empowering people at a deep level. They asked: How do I change the direction of my business?, Is the way I govern aligned to the highest good?, How do I live out of my own values? Even though they were consummate experts in their own fields, they wanted to move to the next level and create virtuosity in all aspects of their lives. This is a very early example of executive coaching.

Furthering Success with an Executive Coach

Here are two current examples of why people work with executive coaches:

A very successful and talented entrepreneur, who had recently sold his business, was walking down a busy street in Toronto when he saw a huge billboard advertising a Porsche Carrera. The tagline was “Realize the Dream”. He had probably seen such billboards a thousand times before but this time it stopped in him in his tracks. He owned a Porsche Carrera, and yes, he always thought that this was realizing the dream, but now he knew that wasn’t true. He didn’t know exactly what his dream was, but he did know it wasn’t about acquiring something – it seemed much bigger than that. The billboard reminded him that something major was missing in his life, and that he, in a certain way, was stuck. Later that day, he had lunch with a long time friend who recommended that he work with an executive coach, someone who helps people discover, and move into, a life that truly matters to them. This clicked with him and he felt excited and energized by this possibility.
.

A woman, who also was very talented and bright, wanted to move into a senior executive position in her company. She was extremely successful in her position and her technical competency was highly regarded, but she had been passed over for promotions. It wasn’t a gender issue as there were many women in such positions in her company. After discussing her frustrations with her boss, it was suggested that she work with an executive coach. In the coaching process, she started to realize that there were significant areas in her life that she needed to develop. She also discovered it was her own internal paradigms that were limiting her promotability. With the help of her executive coach, she set quickly to move beyond these paradigms, and thus increased her likelihood of being promoted.

Both of these people, through the executive coaching process, developed a greater virtuosity in their lives and were able to move forward in a new way. They also noticed that their legs worked just fine (and answered the Zen koan above). These are some reasons why successful people work with executive coaches.

]]>How Companies Get It So Wrong at Timeshttps://executivecoachesgroup.com/how-companies-get-it-so-wrong-at-times/
Fri, 07 Aug 2015 14:40:11 +0000http://executivecoachesgroup.com/?p=92Recently I heard a story told to me by a client that made me cringe as it was yet another example of how companies can get things so wrong at times. Let me start by sharing some information about my client. Adding Insult to Excellence She is super smart and quick as a whip based [...]

Recently I heard a story told to me by a client that made me cringe as it was yet another example of how companies can get things so wrong at times.

Let me start by sharing some information about my client.

Adding Insult to Excellence

She is super smart and quick as a whip based on anyone’s standards. She’s professional, caring and considerate, and has very high standards for both herself and her work. She currently teaches at a post-secondary institution (which will remain nameless although it should be shouted from the rooftops!!)

She was telling me about a reward she received at work for some outstanding work she had done.

Sounds pretty good so far right?

Here’s the kicker: The award was presented to her when she happened to be out of the room.

Yes, you heard me right.

Here is the scenario: There was some kind of employee gathering happening between the hours of 11-2. She was teaching a class up until one o’clock so that’s when she was planning on attending the event. Just after her class ended, she returned to her desk to find the award that was given to her at noon when she wasn’t even in the room.

To add insult to injury, the award was this awful looking tacky thing.

Regardless, my client proceeded to the event where she found lots of people still in attendance, including her boss. Many of the participants who were still there since noon approached and congratulated her on winning the award EXCEPT HER BOSS!! She not only didn’t approach her and congratulate her, she didn’t even make mention of it.

As you can imagine, what could have been a nice gesture, turned out to be a complete joke. For whatever reason her boss seemed to think it was alright that she had simply gone through the motions of presenting the award regardless of the fact that the recipient wasn’t in the room. And had she checked the schedule in advance, she would have known the recipient was teaching a class at the time she was planning on making the announcement. Then for her not to even bring it up again once the employee arrived, just boggles my mind.

How Does Wrong Happen?

So, my question out to the world is this…..why do companies get it so wrong at times???

Surely common sense would prevail and her boss would acknowledge her error in judgment on the timing of presenting the award without my client being there and at least try and save face by mentioning it??

I guess not.

The Solution is Not Complicated

I share this story with you so that this misfortunate lack of judgement does not get repeated. If you are planning an event around recognition, check first to see if the person being ‘honoured’ is available.

]]>The Art of Simplicity 2: Unfetter your Careerhttps://executivecoachesgroup.com/the-art-of-simplicity-2-unfetter-your-career/
Thu, 06 Aug 2015 06:32:25 +0000http://executivecoachesgroup.com/?p=90“Beware the barrenness of a busy life” - Socrates What is Simplicity? The idea is to free up mental, emotional and spiritual room for things that matter. There are many different takes on this idea of Simplicity. Most are about how to declutter things and organize stuff (as in Simplicity Part One). However, here are [...]

The idea is to free up mental, emotional and spiritual room for things that matter.

There are many different takes on this idea of Simplicity. Most are about how to declutter things and organize stuff (as in Simplicity Part One). However, here are some lessons for personal leadership and advancing your career and life goals.

Over the years you have accumulated successes — and what else? Do you have “baggage” that is weighing you down? Do you find it hard to let go of some tasks, activities or behaviours that got you here but won’t get you there? Look at this in two steps:

Lead yourself: Focus

Be crystal clear on what your goals are and make sure they are realistic. Is anything else creeping in that is distracting you from your goals? Have you carried over things that you used to do, but others should now be doing for you? Are you doing things ‘we’ve always done’ without checking to make sure there’s still a customer who wants it? Make a list. What can you do to let go of them?

In most cases you will need to say “No”, firmly and politely; you may have to get used to the idea of doing less. I said less, not doing badly or doing unimportant things. Focus on the critical few things for success and don’t let go. I remember hearing this story: When the first PDA (possibly Palm Pilot ?) was being invented, the leader had a plain block of wood made in the desired size for a hand held device; and overtime as, inevitably, the designers wanted to add amazing new doodads that were cool for engineers (but likely wasted on the average user), he would pull this block of wood out and say “no, this is what we’re making”. Keeping it simple.

Lead others: Authenticity

There are mountains of information available on how to work with and get results through others. It’s not actually that complicated. It’s about how you show up, being fully present. This is something a good coach can really help you with. And, when you simplify your life by decluttering your stuff/distractions and keeping laser focus on your mission, you will have the time to pay attention to the people who are on that mission with you. I think Sam Parker captures it beautifully in “Lead

[simply]”. He says:

Model – Connect – Involve

That’s your framework for leadership — your simple, day-to-day, in the trenches formula for creating that special team of people that do important and meaningful work — that cares to make things better continually — every day.

]]>The Art of Simplicity Part One: Unloadhttps://executivecoachesgroup.com/the-art-of-simplicity-part-one-unload/
Wed, 05 Aug 2015 06:22:01 +0000http://executivecoachesgroup.com/?p=88I want that! In a media fuelled world of buy buy buy, we collect our prizes and proudly show them off. But….. it can be exhausting. Overwhelmed by all the “stuff”, trying to keep track of it, dig out from under it. So the ideas of Simplicity in Life are gaining momentum for good reason. [...]

]]>I want that! In a media fuelled world of buy buy buy, we collect our prizes and proudly show them off. But….. it can be exhausting. Overwhelmed by all the “stuff”, trying to keep track of it, dig out from under it. So the ideas of Simplicity in Life are gaining momentum for good reason. How can we streamline, get rid of distractions, unload the baggage to free up mental, emotional and spiritual room for things that matter?

What is Simplicity?

There are many different takes on this idea of Simplicity. Most are about how to declutter things and organize stuff – which is great and perfectly sensible and oh so liberating! And I also see lessons here for personal leadership and advancing your career and life goals (See Simplicity Part Two).

Fundamentally, Simplicity is an art, not a science. It is going to be different for every one of us but there are a few common ideas and tried-and-true tactics for success. So lets start with the external, controllable environment.

“Life is really simple but we insist on making it complicated” – Confucius

Your Stuff

First, start with the environment: your external world. Ask yourself “What do I really need, what is essential”? If you have a lot of stuff around, face it, it is distracting. That stuff on your desk that you might get to “one day”, the travel brochure you keep meaning to look at, the books backlogged on your shelf. Every time you look at these things you will lose your train of thought as your brain jumps to “oh yeah… “ then have to get back into the groove after multiple mini mental interruptions. This is a real productivity drain. And in a business environment, your colleagues will make all kinds of assumptions about you based on the degree of mess or order you have on display. Where to start?

Put everything in one spot, like your desk or bed. Start going through it and put it where it belongs:

(i) immediate access, essential to getting my near term commitments done; put it neatly where you can easily retrieve it. Hint: if you haven’t used it in a year, you really don’t need it nearby.

(ii) required in future, non-essential to immediate needs; either goes into reference (e.g. a filing system or labelled storage bin) or the garbage/recycle bin. Hint: If it has sentimental value or you are SURE it’s a collectors item, you can still put it safely out of sight.

Like the slogan says, “JUST DO IT!”. The payback for this investment in time is immense. For great ideas on how to set up good systems and think through what you need, I highly recommend David Allen’s ¨Getting Things Done. It’s been a business best seller for years for good reason.